Ashraf Ali Thanwi

Ashraf Ali Thanwi

Born	19 August 1863(1863-08-19)
Died	July 4, 1943(1943-07-04) (aged 79)
Era	Modern era
Region	Islamic scholar
Main interests	fiqh hadees quran tasuwuf

Ashraf 'Ali Thanwi (August 19, 1863 – July 4, 1943) (Urdu: اشرف علی تھانوی) was an Indian Islamic Sunni Hanafi scholar and Chishti Sufi master of the Deobandi school.

Education

Thanwi graduated from the Darul Uloom Deoband in 1884. It is claimed that when Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, one of the founders of the institution, arrived for the graduation ceremony, Maulana Mehmud Hasan informed him Thanwi, an especially intelligent student was about to graduate. Gangohi wanted to test this student by asking the most difficult questions that he could think of. Thanwi's answers reportedly amazed and pleased Gangohi, who himself conducted the Dastārbandī Jalsa, the turban-tying ceremony marking graduation.

Spiritual training

During his studies at Darul Uloom Deoband, Thanwi asked Gangohi to train him in the spiritual disciplines as well. Gangohi, however, advised him to wait until the completion of his traditional studies. Thanwi remained restless and looked for a way to ask Haji Imdadullah Muhaajir Makki, the spiritual guide of Gangohi, to recommend him to Gangohi. When Gangohi departed for Hajj, Thanwi sent a letter with him to Imdadullah, requesting him to persuade Gangohi to initiate him into his spiritual order Tariqah.

Career

After his graduation, Thanwi taught religious sciences in Kanpur for fourteen years. Over a short period of time, he acquired a reputable position as a religious scholar, of Sufism among other subjects. His teaching attracted numerous students and his research and publications became well known in Islamic institutions. During these years, he traveled to various cities and villages, delivering lectures in the hope of reforming people. Printed versions of his lectures and discourses would usually become available shortly after these tours. Until then, few Islamic scholars had had their lectures printed and widely circulated in their own lifetimes. The desire to reform the masses intensified in him during his stay at Kanpur.

Eventually, Thanwi retired from teaching and devoted himself to reestablishing the spiritual centre (khānqāh) of his shaikh in Thāna Bhāwan. Upon this transition, Imdadullah remarked, "It is good that you have arrived in Thāna Bhāwan. It is hoped that people will benefit from you spiritually and physically. You should engage yourself in revitalizing our madrasah and khānqāh once more in Thāna Bhāwan. As for myself, I am always praying for you and attentive towards you."^{[citation needed]}

Students and disciples

Thanwi’s students and disciples constitute a generation of leading scholars of South Asia. Ashraf Ali Thanwi's disciples settled in all parts of South Asia. Among his disciples are:

• Abdul Hai Arifi
• Molana Zafar Ahmed Usmani
• Qari Muhammad Tayyib Qasimi, grandson of the founder of Dar al- ‘Ulum Deoband, Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi, and head principal of Dar al- ‘Ulum Deoband for over 50 years, from the early 1930s to the early 1980s
• Muhammad Maseehullah Khan Sherwani (founder of Madrasa Miftah al- ‘Ulum in Jalalabad, India, and a leading spiritual figure of the past century)
• Mufti Muhammad Shafi, head mufti of Dar al-‘Ulum Deoband and later founder of Dar al-‘Ulum Karachi
• Abdul Bari Nadvi (renowned theologian and philosopher in India who taught modern philosophy at Osmania University in Hyderabad and translated the books of Western philosophers such as Descartes, into Urdu and left behind many literary tracts)
• Allamah Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, researcher and student of Shibli Nu ‘mani who turned to Thanwi for spiritual reformation
• Molana Faqir Muhammed, Peshawar, Pakistan
• Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi Rehmatullahialai (founder of the Tablighi Jammat Movement)
• Qazi abdusalam of nowshera
• Hafiz Tanweer Ahmed Khan Khalifa Majaz Molana Muhammed Masihulah Khan, Hyderabad, Pakistan
• Mulana Abraruhaq Hardoi, last and youngest caliph of Ashraf Ali Thanvi who founded Ashraful Madaris Hardoi and lead the movement of Dawatul Haq, founded by Ashraf Ali Thanvi
• khawja Aziz ul Hassan Majzuoob
• Syed Inayat Ali Shah Gujranwala, Pakistan Wrote a Book Bagh-e-Jannat

Literary contribution

Ashraf Ali Thanwi was a prolific author. His literary contributions are in the order of eight hundred to one thousand in number, including sermons, discussions, discourses, treatises, and books. Syed Sulaiman Nadvi said, "Hazrat [Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī] was a translator and exegete (mufassir) of the Quran; he explained its injunctions and wisdoms. He removed doubts and answered questions pertaining to it." Thānwī was a scholar of hadīth (muhaddith) as well, and expounded its intricacies and subtleties. He was a jurist (faqīh) who issued thousands of legal rulings (fatwa) and addressed numerous legal problems in contemporary issues in Islamic law (fiqh). He was described as a moving orator (khatib) and hundreds of his speeches have been published and widely circulated.

Quran recitation

While teaching in Kanpur, Thanwi was reported to have seen `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas, the cousin of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, in a dream. In this dream, he indicated to him that tafsir should become his primary task. Sayyid Sulaimān Nadwi said:

He not only memorized the words of the Quran but also memorized the deeper significance of these words. He was an exceptional reciter (qari) of the Quran, who had mastered the art of recitation. The uniqueness of his recitation of the Quran was such that each letter was uttered from its proper place of pronunciation (makhraj). There was no imitation or overly exertive effort to make his voice melodious. He would rather recite in his normal voice, which was full of inspiration and absorbed in reflection.^{[citation needed]}

Discourses

The propagation of Islam was an essential part of Thānwī’s life. He would be highly organized and would plan his tours well in advance. Thousands of people would attend his lectures, which usually lasted between two and five hours. Once he visited Gajner, a village in the Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, when the Arya Samaj had started to preach Hinduism among the Muslims of that area. Thanwi was able to persuade the Muslims there to promise that they would not commit "apostasy" by converting. To prevent the spread of apostasy, he wrote the treatise, Al-Insidād li-Fitnat-il Irtidād ("Putting a Stop to the Temptation of Apostasy").

Opposition to Barelvi practices

Thanwi opposed a wide variety of religious practices in South Asia, which he saw as bidah, unacceptable innovation within Islam. These practices, often derived from Sufism, were common among the Sunni Muslims of India, specially the Barelvis. Ashraf Ali Thanwi wrote a number of books that dealt with this subject. One such, Hifzul Imān ("Protecting Faith"), denounced such common acts as worshipping at tombs, asking for intercession from other than God, and believing in the omnipresence of Muhammad and Muslim saints.^{[citation needed]}

Fatwa of Kufr

Thanwi's statements drew criticism from a various other Islamic authorities. Islamic scholar Ahmad Raza Khan issued a fatwa of kufr against Thanwi for his alleged disrespect to the Prophet Muhammad. Khan gave his fatwa on the basis of Thanwi's belief that the "knowledge of unseen" possessed by Muhammad could be attained by the epileptics and the insane, the animals and the beasts as well. Khan's fatwa has been confirmed by 35 Islamic scholars of Mecca and Madeena as well as by 250 scholars from the Indian sub-continent.

Views on politics

Ashraf Ali Thanwi argued, using mainly verses of the Quran, that political rule is only a means of instituting Islam in people's lives and not the purpose of life itself. All modern political notions that contradict the Quran and Hadith would have to be forsaken, and the "pure" political thought reflected in Quranic sources should guide Muslims in organizing and structuring their governments.^{[citation needed]} He was the Murshid of Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani and Mufti Muhammad Shafi who supported Mohammad Ali Jinnah during Pakistan movement

Death

Thanwi died in Thāna Bhāwan on July 4, 1943. His funeral prayer was led by his nephew, Zafar Ahmad Uthmānī, and he was buried in the graveyard of 'Ishq-e-Bāzān.

Desecration of Grave

On December 17, 2006 the graves of Ashraf Ali Thanwi and three others were leveled and desecrated in Thana Bhawan, Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India.

See also

• Deobandi
• Bahishti Zewar
• Shah Waliullah
• Mufti Muhammad Shafi
• Muhammad Taqi Usmani
• Muhammad Rafi Usmani

Further reading

• Zaman, Muhammad Qasim, Ashraf `Ali Thanawi: Islam in Modern South Asia (Makers of the Muslim World), Oneworld, 2007.

External links

• A Short Bio on Ashraf Ali Thanwi at Haqislam.org
• Collection of Ashraf Ali Thanwi in PDF-format